US imposes new sanctions on top Hizbollah leaders following Iran deal exit

US imposes new sanctions on top Hizbollah leaders following Iran deal exit

It is, however, the first time that the US Treasury has acted against his deputy Naim Qassim, Nasrallah’s top political aide.

Hussein al-Khalil, head of Hizbollah’s executive council, Hashem Safieddine; and Ibrahim Amin al-Sayyed, the group’s political council chief, were also on the list.

Meanwhile, Mr Mnuchin said: “Nasrallah is prolonging the human suffering in Syria, fueling the violence in Iraq and Yemen, putting the Lebanese state and the Lebanese people at risk, and destabilising the entire region.”

Mohammad Javad Zarif, Iran’s foreign minister, responded to the news by saying: “Israeli snipers shoot over 2,000 unarmed Palestinian protesters on a single day,” he wrote in a tweet referring to demonstrations in the Gaza Strip that killed some 60 people this week.

The “Saudi response, on eve of Ramadan? Collaboration with its US patron to sanction the first force to liberate Arab territory and shatter the myth of Israeli invincibility. Shame upon shame,” he said.

Wednesday’s sanctions, the third tranche since Mr Trump pulled out of the Iran nuclear deal, are significant after Lebanon’s first parliamentary elections in nine years cemented Hizbollah’s position.

The group, along with its Shia allies Amal Movement, swept all but one of the 27 Shia seats reserved for the sect.

If Hizbollah manages to group with its allies to form a majority, it would give the militant group the power to veto any laws it opposes.